Former DTC Company Actor Collapses on NY Stage

Martin Rayner, the British actor who was a mainstay of the Adrian Hall-Ken Bryant acting ensemble at the Dallas Theater Center in the ’80s and ’90s, collapsed during a Saturday afternoon performance off-Broadway.

CTA TBD

Martin Rayner, the British actor who was a mainstay of the Adrian Hall-Ken Bryant acting ensemble at the Dallas Theater Center in the ’80s and ’90s, collapsed during the Saturday afternoon performance of Freud’s Last Session at an off-Broadway theater. Rayner had been praised for his performance as Sigmund Freud when Mark St. Germain’s play opened in July. The New York Times reported that Rayner, who portrays Freud a few months before his death in 1939, rose from an armchair and fell. He remained conscious and in good spirits until he was wheeled away in an ambulance.

No cause was given for his collapse but one of the play’s producers is quoted as saying Rayner may well return for the show’s final performance Sunday.

Jerome Weeks is the Senior Arts Reporter/Producer for KERA. Previously at The Dallas Morning News, he was the book columnist for 10 years and the drama critic for 10 years before that. His writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, American Theatre and Men’s Vogue magazines. View more about Jerome Weeks.